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I'm a judge, so I don't want to seem partial, but Trish will win this over my dead body.
Leslie Knope

"Beauty Pageant" is the third episode in the second season of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on October 1, 2009, to 4.63 million viewers.

Synopsis[]

Leslie eagerly anticipates her role as a judge in the Miss Pawnee Pageant but finds herself disagreeing with the other judges about what constitutes an ideal woman.

Storyline[]

Leslie proudly announces to the Parks and Recreation staff that she will be judging the Miss Pawnee Beauty Pageant, a job she takes very seriously. Tom, excited at the prospective of judging women on the basis of their looks, pulls some strings to get a spot on the judging panel along with Leslie. April enters the contest in order to win the $600 prize despite being disgusted with the concept of a beauty contest. She tries, unsuccessfully, to gain an advantage by sucking up to Leslie. Later, Pawnee police officer Dave Sanderson visits Leslie at work to ask her out on a date. She initially accepts, but when Dave mistakes a photo of the politician Madeleine Albright for Leslie's grandmother, Leslie changes her mind.

Meanwhile, Ann offers to cook Mark a cheap meal if he will fix her broken shower; Mark accepts what he calls "the weirdest second date ever". That night, the date goes well, until Ann takes her trash outside and finds her ex-boyfriend Andy is spying on her from the pit, where he is now living. Back inside, Ann complains about Andy to Mark, who thinks they should invite Andy inside when it starts to rain. Ann reluctantly agrees, and Andy spends the rest of the night interrupting their conversations and spoiling romantic moments. After dinner, Ann kicks him out, but Andy remains convinced the night went very well for him.

Leslie and Tom arrive at the pageant and meet the EMCEE Martin Housely and the other judges, including previous winner Jessica Wicks, Ray Holstead, and Charles Woliner. Leslie, who wants the Miss Pawnee winner to be dignified and graceful, favors Susan Gleever, a valedictorian student who plays the piano and does charity work at the children's hospital. However, the other judges favor Trish Ianetta, an attractive but untalented and unintelligent woman. Tom is particularly impressed with Trish, even when she answers Leslie's question about how "we as citizens can improve on the great experiment?" by making fluffy remarks about America and expressing a distaste for immigrants. April puts on an act by pretending to be a shallow beauty contest contestant, but instantly quits when she learns the $600 prize actually consists of gift certificates for for fencing and sporting goods.

After the contest, the judges deliberate. Leslie pushes for Susan, but Tom and the other judges all immediately agree on Trish. As the pageant closes out, Leslie makes a final speech congratulating Susan anyway, stating "the Susans" of the world will carry on even when they lose to "the Trishes" of the world. Dave approaches Leslie at the pageant and asks her out again. When she hesitates, he tells her to call him if she changes her mind. As Dave leaves, he bumps into Trish, who he pushes past without much notice, impressing Leslie. The next day, they set up a date, and Dave tries to impress Leslie by showing he has memorized the names of all the female politicians in her photographs.

Meanwhile, Tom has tried to pick up girls at the pageant by giving him his house keys. None of them showed up, but he reveals that he has been robbed twice.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

  • Amy Poehler
  • Rashida Jones
  • Paul Schneider
  • Aziz Ansari
  • Nick Offerman
  • Aubrey Plaza
  • Chris Pratt

Guest Stars[]

Quotes[]

Leslie: I'm a judge, so I don't want to seem partial, but Trish will win this over my dead body.

Tom: I had to call in a few favors. But if you don't call in favors to look at women in bikinis and assign them numerical grades, what the hell do you call in favors for?

Leslie: What you doing in these parts?
Dave: Oh, I just, uh, I came by to see the murals. This one is pretty amazing.
Leslie: Yeah, this one's a beauty. You know, in the 1880's, there were a few years that were pretty rough and tumble in Pawnee. This depicts kind of a famous fight between Reverend Bradley and Annabeth Stevenson, a widowed mother of seven. The original title of this was "A Lively Fisting." But y'know, they had to change it for...obvious reasons.
Dave: She's got him by the hair pretty good there.
Leslie: Yeah.

April: This is an impression of my sister, Natalie.. "Hi, I'm Natalie, I like Ritalin and have low self-esteem!"

April [about the beauty pageant]: I may not have won, but at least I didn't make any new friendships.

Trivia[]

To see Trivia, go here.

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